


Baby Don't Hurt Me

by Moriartied



Series: What is love? Baby don't hurt me. [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: For organization purposes, I'm importing all my works from elsewhere, M/M, i hate this, please spare yourself, trash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2007-04-17
Updated: 2007-04-17
Packaged: 2018-05-24 07:02:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 18
Words: 17,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6145471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moriartied/pseuds/Moriartied
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joey and Kaiba are finally together and happy, as are Ryou and Bakura. But where is Marik? Yugi disappears, and when Yami finds him, will it be what he expected? predominately tendershipping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Joey bolted upright in bed, his body covered in sweat and shaking. He stared into the darkness, petrified. Seto sat up in bed next to him.

"It's alright Jo', I'm here, no one's going to hurt you." He put his arm around Joey's bare shoulders. Joey lay back down and asleep cradled in his lover's arms.

It had been two months since the incident with Marik and Bakura, but Joey still had nightmares. A lot had happened since then. Malik had disappeared, probably to help his yami regain his body after Yami had banished him to the Shadow Realm for the second time. Bakura started coming to school so he could be with Ryou. Duke and Tristan got back together after Tristan realized that he could never have Kaiba. Aside from Joey's nightmares everything was perfect.

But too good to be true. Joey and Kaiba were woken up by Kaiba's cell phone ringing.

"What," Kaiba answered the call, annoyed. "Oh, hello Yami… What?... shit, yeah we'll be right there." He hung up the phone.

"Yugi's been kidnapped," Kaiba said. Joey who was still half asleep, didn't register what was said. He looked at Kaiba blankly. "Just get dressed."

Joey followed Kaiba outside into the garage. The got into Kaiba's red lambourghini.

"Where are we going?" Joey asked.

"Yugi was kidnapped… we're going to help Yami find him."

"Don't they have a mindlink because of the puzzle?" Joey asked.

"I guess something happened.

"Oh," Joey said. They pulled into the driveway of the Kame game shop. Yami was waiting for them at the door.

"Guys, Marik's back." He said.

Joey's face paled. Kaiba put his arms around him in a reassuring gesture.

"I already went to the warehouse, but the whole thing is trashed. They're not there."

"Are you sure it's Marik?" Joey asked, fear showing in his face.

"It's okay Jo' we'll protect you this time." Kaina said. Joey nodded, but was still afraid.

Suddenly Yami's cell phone rang, its loud tune breaking the silence. He answered it anxiously.

"Hello?"

"Yami?" the voice on the other end asked uncertainly.

"Yugi? Where are you?" Yami asked worried.

"I-I— " Yugi was cut off.

"Good morning, Pharaoh," Marik hissed in Yami's ear.


	2. Chapter 2

"Marik, where the hell are you? Yami asked angrily.

"Oh, I don't think I'm going to tell you… yet."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yami seethed.

"I think I'll have a little fun with your _pet_ first… come and find me pharaoh."

Marik laughed and clicked off the phone.

Yugi burst out laughing.

"He's so _stupid_!" Yugi hiccupped between peals of laughter. He sat down in the tomb keeper's tlap.

"I've missed you Yugi," Marik said, "It's pretty boring in the Shadow Realm."

"Yeah, good thing I figured out that you could switch with Malik and get out."

"Hn, I feel kinda bad about trapping him in there after he spent so long trying to get me out. Oh well, it's not my problem he's a baka."

Yugi laughed and placed a chaste kiss on Marik's lips. Suddenly he pulled away.

"What?" Marik asked.

"Did you make that call anonymous? 'cause if you didn't Yami can track us."

"Shit, I forgot. Well, they'll have to find us sometime. I can't wait to see the look on the Pharaoh's fuck-ugly face."

Yugi once again pressed his mouth to Marik's.

* * *

Yami looked at the number on the screen of his phone.

 

"He didn't block it, we can Google their address," He said. Kaiba pulled his laptop out of the briefcase he always carried with him. He heard Joey's breathing quicken next to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't want to find Marik…" Joey said quietly so Yami wouldn't hear. "I have this feeling that something's going to go really wrong.."

"I told you I'll protect you," Kaiba said, worried that Joey didn't trust him.

"I-I don't think anything's going to happen to me—I know you'll be there. I just think something's worng with this situation. I don't trust Marik—" Joey lowered his voice to a whisper. "—or Yugi. He'd not the innocent little kid everyone thinks he is."

"What would Yugi do to us?"

"Not to us, to Yami."

"Have you found them yet?" Yami asked, disrupting their conversation.

"Just about… It's coming up that they're at—"

Joey read the location over his lover's shoulder.

"My old apartment."


	3. Chapter 3

Marik went into the kitchen of the apartment.

"Does Joey have any booze in this place?" he called to Yugi.

"There's beer in the cabinet above the stove, and vodka in the sink." Yugi called back.

"Sweet."

Yugi heard the doors opening and bottles clinking. He really didn't want Marik drunk when Yami showed up. He could hurt him… not that Yugi cared about the pharaoh—he was so over that loser—but… some little voice in his head was telling him that he shouldn't do this to someone who obviously loved him very much. He'd been so caught up in his joy of bringing Marik back that he never stopped to think about what Yami might be feeling.

He didn't have tie to dwell on he subject because Marik came back into the room with a six-pack of miller light.

"Let us drink to the Pharaoh's demise." The silver haired Egyptian said, opening a bottle and pouring some for him and Yugi.

"To the Pharaoh's demise," Yugi replied lifting his glass to Marik's. Marik downed the glass in a few gulps. Yugi drank some and then set it down; he never had liked the taste of beer.

"How long do you think it'll take him to get here?" Marik asked.

"I give him two hours, less if he's with Joey and Kaiba." Yugi answered.

"Good, what should we do while we wait for them?" Marik asked, with a malicious gleam in his eyes.

"I don't know," Yugi sighed. But he really didn't have any time to think about it, because just then, there was a loud knocking on the door. Marik stood up to answer it. He looked through the peephole and saw that it was Yami. Kaiba and Joey were with him, Kaiba's arm protectively around Joey's shoulders. Marik smirked inwardly. It's not like he would do anything to the kid, he had his true pet now.

He opened the door.

"Hello Pharaoh," he said.

"Where's Yugi." Yami growled.

"He's in the den."

"What did you do to him?" Yami asked in his frustratingly calm voice.

"Nothing, he's perfectly fine."

"Let me see him," the Pharaoh demanded.

On cue, Yugi called from the next room, "Mari-kun, who is it?"

Joey whispered something to Kaiba.

"It's your little friends, Yugi," Marik called back, "Why don't you come and say hi to them."

Yugi walked out into the room, avoiding looking at Yami. He flashed Joey a quick glance. The blonde's face was unreadable, as was Kaiba's. Finally he looked at Yami. The Pharaoh's eyes were moist.

"Y-yugi? What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"I'm sorry Yami." Yugi said.

"Why didn't you tell me," the Pharaoh whispered.

Yugi's voice caught in his throat. He didn't know what to say. Why hadn't he told Yami? He knew; he had wanted to do something 'bad', something to show he wasn't a child; something to show that he was capable of something cruel.

But he hadn't realized how cruel he truly was.

He couldn't look at Yami's face. He knew he would break down.

Yami just stared at Yugi in shock. His face showing his hurt, but probably less than he felt.

"I can't believe it Yugi. I seriously thought you loved me. Now I know I was foolish to trust you."

"That's right, Pharaoh," Marik cut in, "You're a fool. That's all you've ever been."

This was too much for Joey. Not only had Yugi broken Yami's heart, but Marik was eing a complete ass about it. Something inside him snapped. He pushed Yami out of the way and drew back his fist.

"You bastard," he growled at Marik and punched him in the jaw. Marik staggered and Joey punched him again, this time directly in the nose, knocking him unconscious.

He stepped back, massaging his hand. Then he glared at Yugi.

"And to think I once called you my best friend," he spat. He turned to the others.

" Come one, let's get out of here."

The Pharaoh allowed himself to be lead out of the apartment and into the street.


	4. Chapter 4

Malik sat in the shadow realm in utter boredom. Curse the pharaoh's hikari. Curse Marik for being in love with the bastard, if you could call his sadistic perverseness love. Curse the pharaoh for banishing Marik in the first place. Curse Joey for stealing Kaiba and causing Malik to run to Marik for revenge.

Malik sat in the shadow realm mentally cursing everyone he knew. Eventually he fell asleep.

Joey sat on Kaiba's bed as the brunet did some work on his laptop. Yami was in the guest bedroom, presumably asleep. They were all still shocked by Yugi's betrayal. Joey's fist still throbbed from where he had punched Marik. He cursed the asshole.

He leaned back on the bed, his eyelids half closed over his soft honey irises. Kaiba turned away from the computer and came over to the bed. He leaned down and gently placed a kiss on Joey's lips. Joey opened his eyes and wrapped his arms around Kaiba, pulling him down on top of him. He felt himself getting hard as Kaiba's crotch rubbed against his own. His fingers deftly undid Kaiba's shirt buttons.

"Are you sure?" Kaiba whispered. Joey didn't answer. He wrapped his legs around Kaiba's waist and pulled him even closer. Kaiba's heart was racing with nervous excitement. Joey twisted his leg under Kaiba's a flipped them over so that he was on top.

"If you are," He responded, stroking Kaiba's stomach.

Kaiba gazed into Joey's eyes, their deep chocolate pools reflecting his own fear. Kaiba blinked and tried to gain his composure. Was he ready to do this? Was he ready to do what he'd dreamed of doing for so long? He'd imagined it so many times in his head that this barely felt real now.

Joey reached out and cupped Kaiba's cheek with his had reassuringly. Kaiba wrapped his muscular arms around Joey.

"Should we really be doing this now?" Kaiba asked quietly, his voice hoarse. "I mean," he cleared his throat, "Isn't it kind of disrespectful to Yami?"

"Yugi and him aren't our problem, Seto," Joey breathed, "Everything will be fine."  
Kaiba couldn't think of anything else that could stop them now. He pulled Joey closer.

"I'm ready," he whispered.

Joey gently slipped the shirt off Kaiba's shoulders, tracing the line of the brunet's muscled chest with his fingertips. Although not a virgin like Kaiba, this was a new experience for Joey too. Not only had he never been the dominate one in a relationship, but he had never truly cared about the person he was having sex with. He recalled his first time—It was two years ago, when he'd first begun to have strange feelings whenever he saw shirtless boys. He'd been confused at first, but then Duke came out and told everyone that he was gay and things started to make sense.

It started out as just kissing. But kissing Duke felt to Joey just like every other kiss he'd had with girls. One day while Joey was at Duke's house, it had happened. It was mostly a blur in Joey's memory, the next thing that he recalled clearly was waking up in Duke's bed exhausted, having just had the most pleasurable experience in is life. Of course neither Joey nor Duke were really attracted to each other so they both went their separate ways.

Then Tristan came out, closely followed by Yugi, who revealed that he and yami had admitted their feelings for each other quite a while ago. At first Joey had thought it strange that all his friends were gay, but as he thought about it, that's probably why they were friends in the first place. And he was also really glad about it; no matter how much he was ridiculed by others at school, he always had his friends.

Joey's thoughts returned to Kaiba, as his fingers slid under the band of his pants to unzip them.

"I love you Seto," he half whispered to the boy below him. Seto's eyelids fluttered shut as Joey ran his had along his cock.

"Do you mean that?" The brunet whispered back, thinking about what Yugi had done to Yami."

Joey's had stopped and Seto regretted having asked.

Joey leaned down to whisper in Seto's ear. "You're the only person I've ever said that to."

Later that night, the two boys woke up to a frantic knock on the door.

"What?" Kaiba muttered.

"Yami's gone," Mokuba said, opening the door. He quickly shut it, mumbling apologies, when he saw that his brother and Joey weren't dressed.

"Fuck" Kaiba said.

Joey trailed his finger down Kaiba's stomach, leaning in to kiss him.

"You know," he said, "I'm sure Yami's just fine; and it's not really our problem anyway, so we don't have to do anything. Unless you want to, that is."

Kaiba responded by pulling Joey back down on the bed, holding him tightly.

"If I never have to get out of this bed again, I'd be the happiest man alive." he said, pressing his lips to Joey's neck.

"That's fine by me," Joey replied happily, kissing Kaiba's forehead.


	5. Chapter 5

After Joey and Kaiba and…Yami had left, Yugi dragged Marik's limp body into the den, groaning as he lifted him onto the couch.

Why did Yami have to show up and ruin everything? Yugi went to get a wet towel to clean the blood off of Marik's face.

When he came back into the room, Marik was sitting up rubbing his head. Yugi handed him the towel and silently watched him dab tenderly at his swollen face. He motioned for Yugi to sit next to him of the sofa. Yugi obeyed and Marik slipped his arms around Yugi's slim waist, pulling him not so gently onto his lap. Yugi gazed up at the silver haired Egyptian, feeling a little unsure for the first time since he'd left Yami. He tried to remember exactly why he had done why he had. He knew it wasn't because he hadn't been happy. Yami had never hurt him, never showed him anything but kindness and caring. He'd even told Yugi that he loved him, that they were meant to be together. Not, the reason that he'd left was that he was selfish. He wanted to prove that he wasn't the little goody-two-shoes everyone thought he was. And now, as he sat captive in Marik's lap with the tomb keeper's hands running down his back, he realized that he hadn't been trying to prove it to his friends, he'd been convincing himself. And now he knew that that it was all a lie. The only thing he wanted right now was probably the only thing he could never have again.

Yugi jumped a little, startled by Marik's hand slipping into his jeans. He tried to pull away, knowing that this was no longer—nor had ever really been—what he wanted. But it was too late. There was a glint of hunger in Marik's eyes, something that he'd seen many times before and knew never lead to anything good.

"Scared, Yugi?" Marik asked, his voice filled with lust.

"No," Yugi responded, doing his best to mask his true emotions. He prayed that Marik wouldn't see through him. He prayed that someone would find him and rescue him from the trap he'd set for himself. He prayed that Yami would take him back.

"Good," Marik hissed, "Because I like to play rough." He grabbed Yugi by the wrists and thrust him forward onto the sofa, pinning him down with one hand and removing his pants with the other. Yugi was no stranger to sew, but he was terrified. This was more like rape. And he should have known that before, after seeing what Marik had done to Joey. He had thought it would be different with him. He had thought that Marik's words meant something; that he thought of Yugi as more that just a fuck. He'd been acting like the naïve fool that he'd been trying to convince everyone he wasn't. And now he was paying for it. He was getting what he deserved for being an asshole; for throwing away the things he cared about the most.

* * *

Yami ducked down a dark alleyway, running mindlessly in some unknown direction. He stopped in some unknown direction. He stopped for a breath under a porch light, slumping back against the wall. His eyes were red from lack of sleep, having spent much of the night fighting back tears. What the hell had he done to deserve this?

 

He heard footsteps and glanced up. A young boy, maybe sixteen, was standing in front of him. He looked older than he probably was, his face streaked with dirt and a bloody cut on his right cheek. His dark hair fell over one eye.

"Bad day?" The boy asked, his voice hoarse.

"Yes, you?" Yami replied, tiredly.

"Not awful," the boy reached into his pocket. "Maybe this will help," he said, offering a hand-rolled cigarette to Yami. In his distressed state, Yami accepted it, allowing the boy to light it for him. He held it to his mouth, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply the sweet smell of marijuana. When he reopened his eyes to thank the boy, he was gone. Yami took another drag, feeling the pounding in his head subside as he did. Amazing that he'd never tried this before. He finished the cigarette and tossed it to the curb, stamping it out with the heel of his boot.

He continued walking, his head now pleasantly clear.

Minutes later he was standing outside of Bakura and Ryou's place. Not remembering if he'd been planning to go there all along, or if he'd just happened to show up there, he knocked on the door. After a while, when Yami was about to give up and continue walking, the door opened. It was Bakura, clad only in plaid boxers with his hair wild and covering most of his face.

"What do you want, Yami, it's nearly two in the morning."

"Sorry," Yami said, I—I was just out walking and—"

"Yami, are you _high_?" Bakura asked, noticing that the Pharaoh's pupils were abnormally dilated and he obviously wasn't thinking straight.

Yami nodded, half grinning. Barkura raised his eyebrows. There was something seriously wrong if the Pharaoh was turning up intoxicated on his doorstep in the middle of the night.

Ryou's small form appeared at the top of the stairs. " 'Kura, who is it?" he asked groggily. At that moment, Yami swayed and passed out cold on the floor.

"Great," Bakura grumbled.


	6. Chapter 6

Malik jolted awake. For a second he didn't remember where he was, and then it all came back in a rush. The shadow realm. Of course. So that was a dream he had just been having, that he was about to screw Yugi. Strange, he thought, I've never found that kid even slightly attractive. And why the heck had the dream taken place at Joey's apartment? He hadn't been back there since Joey betrayed him.

Oh hell, he thought, I must be finally cracking up.

For the second time that night, Kaiba and Joey were startled awake. This time it was Kaiba's phone. He answered it, muttering about how he wished he could just turn it off, to which Joey's mind was to asleep to retort why the hell couldn't he.

"Well that's nice," Kaiba said as he hung up the phone. "Yami just showed up stoned at Ryou's place."

"Good, at least now we don't have to worry about him doing anything stupid," Joey said, then started laughing at his logic.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "So much for sleeping," he groaned. Joey snuggled into the crook of Kaiba's arm. "Maybe for you," he said, and already his eyes had fluttered shut.

Kaiba lay awake in bed for the remainder of the night. Joey, in his sleep, continued to inch closer to Kaiba until is was nearly on top of him, his even breaths tickling Kaiba's bare chest. There must be a god up there somewhere, Kaiba thought, to have sent this angel to me. He almost wished that Gozaboro was there now, to see that you could have a successful business and also love someone, a fact that his adoptive father had drilled into him as impossible. But he knew that Gozaboro would have found some way to ruin it. Some way to keep him from ever being truly happy.

At six 'o'clock, Kaiba's watch started beeping, signaling that is was time to wake up. He untangled himself from Joey, who was still asleep, and went into the bathroom to shower. He walked out again to find Joey still asleep, and decided to leave him there while he went down to breakfast.

"Sleep well, big brother?" Mokuba asked when he entered the kitchen, a smirk on his face.

"Yes," Kaiba responded.

"Well, I guess you would have after you…"

"After I what?" Kaiba asked, his face impassive.

"You know…" Mokuba replied, wiggling his eyebrows. "How was it?"

"None of your business," the older boy muttered.

"So you _did_! I knew it Seto, I knew it!" Mokuba bounced delightedly around the table.

"That's quite enough," Kaiba said, although a smile was trying to work its way onto his face.

"Aw, you're not going to tell me about it?" Mokuba gave his brother puppy-dog eyes.

"You know those don't work on me,"

"They work when I do them," Joey said from the doorway. Kaiba turned around. "What'd ya want to know, anyway? The blond asked Mokuba.

"Unh, nothing!" Mokuba said, blushing as he ran out of the room.

"What was that all about?" Joey asked, slipping his arm around the taller boy's waist.

"My little brother is far too nosy for his own good." Kaiba kissed Joey's forehead.

"Ah, so he knows."

Kaiba nodded.

"At least he's not freaked out."

"True," Kaiba said, "Although I have to wonder why he was so interested…"

"What, you think Mokie's gay?" Joey asked.

"Maybe."

Joey chuckled.

"What?" Kaiba asked.

"I can't believe it. You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

"Mokuba's been going out with his friend Miles for at least a month now. I saw them making out in the den a few days ago."

"That little—why didn't he tell me?"

"I guess he thought you knew, since he'd figured you out ages ago." Joey said.

"But he's only thirteen!" Kaiba spluttered.

"How old were you?" Joey retorted.

"That's not the point."

"Well then what is? Do you have a problem with Mokuba's sexuality? Because I don't think you can."

"No, it's not that…"

"Then what is it, Seto?"

"I just don't want him to be hurt. It's be the same if he were dating some girl. I know, I need to stop being an over-protective big brother, but I can't help it. After all I've seen with Marik and Yugi and Ryou and everyone, I'm just worried."

"Aw Seto, that's so sweet," Joey said, "But you gotta let him have experiences. He's going to have to do it sometime, what's the difference between now and three years from now? It would prob'ly hurt more then anyway."

"I know, I know, I just want what's best for him."

"I know ya do. So let him go. An', ah, could ya do me a favor and not tell him I said anything? He'll tell you when he's ready."

"Of course."

* * *

(Going back in time)

 

Ryou splashed icy water into Yami's face. The pharaoh bolted upright cursing. Bakura glared down at him.

"So what happened," He asked again.

Yami looked around, dazed. How the hell had he gotten here?

"What time is it?" he asked hoarsely.

"Three AM. Now tell me what happened and why you got me up in the middle of the night." The tomb robber snapped.

"It was Yugi. He-he left me for Marik."

"What?" Ryou shrieked. "Bakura, did you know about this?"

"No, I can honestly say that I haven't spoken to that jerkwad since… well the last time I spoke to him."

Ryou rolled his eyes.

"You mean when you raped Joey?"

Bakura cringed. "I prefer not to think about my horrible lapse in judgment, but yes, that is the last time I spoke to him." He turned back to Yami, "So have you seen Yugi since you found this out?"

"Yes, that's how I found out. I thought he'd been kidnapped, but then I went with Joey and Kaiba to Joey's old apartment—that's where they are—and I saw them. I can't believe he would do something like this?"

Bakura looked questioningly at Ryou.

'Did he ever mention anything to you?' he asked through the millennium ring.

'No. Not about that… but he was always going on about how he hates that everyone treats him like a little kid'

'But he is one.'

'See, that's exactly what he meant. I think he wanted to prove that he wasn't.'

'Oh that's great.'

"Um, guys? I'm still here," interrupted Yami, who could not hear there conversation.

"Sorry Yami, but if Yugi doesn't want to come back, I can't help you." Bakura said.

"I-I know," the pharaoh replied, fighting back tears. "I just don't want Marik to hurt him, and me not be there to help."

"I know how you feel," Bakura said, pulling Ryou close to him. "He means the world to you." And Ryou knew he wasn't just talking about Yugi.

Yami nodded.

"I'll see what I can do," Bakura said gently, "But I'm not making any promises."


	7. Chapter 7

Bakura walked silently through the dark streets. It was so early in the morning that the sun hadn't even risen yet. Too early, in the tomb robber's opinion, to be doing anything other than sleeping or having sex, the latter of which had been interrupted by Yami's arrival, and the first—wishful thinking.

He hummed to himself one of Ryou's songs that he played so much. Something about 'sweet escapes'. What did that kid see in trashy pop princess music? Well, thought Bakura, he is nearly a girl after all, and that is the kind of stuff girls do. Not that he knew many of them. The only girls he was acquainted with were Tea, Ishizu, and that Mai chick, none of whom did anything but annoy him and hit on his friends who were blatantly gay. What was it with girls and gay boys anyway? You'd think that they would hate them, seeing as they'd never dream of having sex with a chick. Not only did women annoy Bakura, but they also grossed him out somewhat. If there was one thing in the world he was least interested in, it was cleavage, yet all girls seemed to do was shove it in his face. Did they think that would make him any less gay?

He was jerked out of his reverie by a tap on is shoulder. He glanced up, slightly startled.

"Hey mister," a pink haired girl sad, "You look like you could use some excitement."

He looked at her blankly.

She put her hand on his shoulder and brought her scantily clad leg up to touch his. Leaning her head close to his face she whispered "come with me."

He pushed her away.

"I'm gay." He said.

The girl chuckled.

"I know. I'm a guy."

Bakura raised his eyebrows.

"Don't you have anything better to do than… you know, be a whore?" Bakura wondered.

"I'm not a _whore_ ," the boy/girl said, offended. "I'm an escort."

"Ah, of course. Well then please escort yourself elsewhere. I have a fuck-toy at home."

The boy turned with a huff.

"Suit yourself. But you're missing out." He turned back to face Bakura again, wiggling his slender hips.

Against his will, Bakura felt himself getting hard. The boy was attractive, and he hadn't gotten to screw Ryou this morning because of Yami… which also eliminated the excuse of being obligated to help the pharaoh…

"Oh what the hell," Bakura said, following the boy, who smirked, knowing that Bakura was going to give in all along. The boy was wearing a pink hoodie with rainbow hearts over a tank top and short shorts, with argyle knee socks and high heeled mary-janes. He really did look like a girl, with his legs shaved and his hair long. He even had curves, which were accentuated nicely by his clothing.

"How old are you anyway?" Bakura asked the kid.

"Almost sixteen, you?"

"…Seventeen," Bakura said, trying to remember Ryou's age.

"Right," the boy said sarcastically. "It doesn't really matter about me being a minor though. As long as I get paid, I keep my mouth shut."

The entered a dark stone building. Inside there were three other… people around the boy's age. Their genders were unidentifiable. Rows of doors lined the walls with little signs on the doorknobs like those you would see in hotels that said 'occupied'. The boy lead Bakura to the far end of the hallway. He opened a door and then placed a sign on it, winking at Bakura.

"What's your name?" Bakura asked.

"Davey." The boy didn't ask his, and he didn't offer it.

Davey put his hands on Bakura's hips, pulling their crotches together.

"Top or bottom?" Davey asked.

"Top," Bakura replied. Davey slipped off the hoodie and let it fall to the floor. Then he reached over and pulled off Bakura's black tee-shirt. His hands trailed down the tomb robber's back and rested on his ass. "How do you want me?" Davey asked.

Bakura's eyes widened with pleasure as Davey's length rubbed against his own. "Like an animal," Bakura hissed. "I want you on your knees begging for more."

Davey smirked, "I figured you to be that type."

He began trailing his lips down Bakura's chest, gripping his butt the whole time. Bakura arched his back involuntarily as Davey sucked gently on his nipples.

How the hell did a fifteen year old get this good a seduction.

Davey swirled his tongue down Bakura's stomach and into his navel. Akura thrust forward, nearly smashing into Davey's chin. The pink haired boy began undoing Bakura's pants with his teeth, a feat Bakura had never mastered, as he was normally in such a hurry to get into Ryou's pants.

And then Bakura's cell phone rang. He turned it off without even looking at who it was. He felt his pants slide to the floor, followed by his boxers. Davey's mouth traveled aroung the base of his member, his soft lips barely touching the pale skin. Bakura grabbed the back of Davey's head, crushing it closer to his body. "Take me… now," he grunted. Davey's hands gripped his tense ass again as he ran his tongue up the underside of Bakura's arousal. Bakura leaned against the wall allowing Davey to put his palms on his hips to keep him from bucking forward and choking the boy. Davey's mouth covered the tip of Bakura's member as he alternated between swirling his tongue around it and blowing. Bakura moaned with pleasure, his eyes closed. Davey's head bobbed up and down as he worked to make Bakura cum. At last he did, spraying the milky liquid into Davey's mouth and onto his face. Bakura roughly pulled Davey upright, diving in and sucking the sweetness off his face. He jerked off the boy's shorts and lifted him into his arms so that Davey's crotch was level with his own and his legs wrapped around his waist. He turned so Davey was up against the wall and sucked roughly at his neck. Davey stroked Bakura's member to harden it again, and then wrapped his arms around Bakura's neck so he wouldn't slip. Bakura slipped a finger into Davey and then without further preparation, replaced it with his cock. Davey hissed with pain d Bakura smirked. "Tell me if it's too rough," he mumbled to Davey.

"Never," Davey replied.

Bakura thrust harder. He hadn't had sex like this since he'd raped Joey, and it felt damn good. Ryou was nice and all, but he definitely couldn't satisfy Bakura's sexual desires. He slammed into Davey's prostate, enjoying the other boy's pain, although Davey was doing a good job of concealing it.

It was almost a battle between who could hold back their release the longest. Davey knew that it would look bad if he came first, but it would also anger Bakura if he didn't. Bakura wanted him to be weak, so he held it in for a few more thrusts and then gasped his climax into Bakura's neck. He sprayed his cum onto Bakura's stomach and seconds later felt Bakura release deep inside him. Bakura sank back on the bed, and Davey knelt before him, preparing himself for another round. Bakura sat up, his hands cupping Davey's face.

"I want you to top me." He whispered. Davey nodded.

"As roughly as you can," the white haired boy added.

Davey couldn't help but smirk. Although he appeared to be a meek uke, in reality when he was with his boyfriend, he was always the seme. The man before him had obviously never been topped before. Davey ran his hand along his own cock to harden it, and then grabbed Bakura's legs and wrapped them around his waist. He leaned forward, placing his palms on Bakura's shoulders.

Minutes later, as Bakura was not used to experiencing sex this way, the tomb robber was raking is nails down Davey's back and muffling his screams by biting into the boy's shoulder. Then, unable to hold it anymore, he arched back and spilled his seed into Davey, screaming out loud as he did. Then he collapsed back against the pillows, breathing heavily. "Daaaamn…" he whispered.


	8. Chapter 8

Ryou hung up the phone after having tried to call Bakura over ten times.

"I hope he's not hurt or anything…" he said worriedly to Yami. "D'you thing Marik did anything to him?"

"If it came to a fight, I'd put my money on Bakura. Can't you try to contact him through your mindlink?"

"He blocked it." Ryou replied dully.

"Well that tells you he's not hurt… if he was he wouldn't have the strength to keep the barrier up."

"But then why isn't he answering me?" Ryou asked quietly.

Yami was silent, staring intently at the opposite wall of the room. On a sudden impulse, he tried to talk to Yugi through the mindlink.

'Aibo, if you're listening to me, I want you to know how much I miss you... how much I love you and that I would forget everything that's happened if you came back.'

Not expecting any reply, Yami nearly jumped when he heard Yugi's voice in his head.

'Yami? Is that you? Or am I just hallucinating…' his voice sounded strained.

Yami hesitated. 'Yes, Yugi, it's me.'

'Oh Yami! I-I can't tell you how glad I am to hear you. Yami you have to come quickly I—' he trailed off.

'Yugi? What's wrong?'

'I'm hurt, Yami. I think it's bad. I think I'm going to pass out—but I have to stay awake… protect myself… Oh Yami…' his voice faded away again.

'Who hurt you? Is Bakura there?'

'Ba…kura? No… it's just M-m—'

'Just Marik. Hold on Yugi, I'm coming'

"Ryou. We have to go. Yugi's hurt; Bakura never got there. We have to get him." Yami said.

"You sure this isn't just a trap?" Ryou asked.

"I don't think so."

Ryou got up and followed Yami outside. "How could Bakura not have gotten there? He left over two hours ago."

"I'm sure he's fine," Yami said, shortly.

"Wha—? Oh I'm so sorry Yami, I was being thoughtless. I'm sure Bakura's fine, it's Yugi we need to think about. I mean he could be in serious—"

Yami cut off Ryou's babbling. "It's fine Ryou, I'm just a little tense."

"And you have every right to be. If it were me I'd probably be just as—"

Yami stopped, turning and putting his hands on Ryou's shoulders. "I said it's _fine_."

"O-of course Yami," Ryou laughed nervously.

Yami leaned in and placed a light kiss on Ryou's forehead.

"I know you're worried about Bakura. As soon as we rescue Yugi, we can go look for him, okay?"

Ryou nodded, blushing at Yami's uncharacteristic display of affection. When they got out onto the street, Yami realized he didn't remember how to get back to Joey's apartment. He'd never gone there from Ryou's place, and didn't want to go to the game shop to find his way from there since that would have been going backwards.

Ryou seemed to know where he was going though. He was walking slightly ahead of Yami, his hands in his hoodie pockets. They walked in silence, Ryou leading, Yami keeping the distance between them. They turned into an alleyway. Ryou slowed so that he was walking next to Yami.

"This neighborhood gives me the skives," he said in explanation.

Something was familiar about this street, but Yami couldn't place it. Then he saw three boys slouched against the door of a house. One looked up at Yami, nodding, the cut on his cheek beginning to scab. Yami knew that he'd avoid this street whenever possible in the future. They continued walking, and Yami did not acknowledge that he recognized the young dealer. Now that it was lighter outside, they could see the buildings that lined the streets. Most of the houses were abandoned, some empty, some filled with squatters. The ones that were inhabited were either drug houses, or worse. Ryou involuntarily shivered as they passed a "house of ill repute" as his father had called it. There were two cross-dressing boys leaning against the front, one running his fingers down the other's leg suggestively. The pink haired boy stared at Ryou curiously, his eyes following him as he walked past.

Yami noticed it and stopped walking. He turned to the boy.

"If you want something, why don't you ask?" He said coldly.

"I-I didn't mean any offense," the boy stuttered. "He just looks familiar."

"Familiar? How so?"

"Do you have an older brother?" He asked Ryou. "Looks like you, only… scarier?"

"Bakura?"

"I don't know his name."

"Why?" Ryou asked skeptically.

"Uh, nothing. Just wanted to know."

"Have you seen him?" Ryou asked.

Davey chuckled. "Yes," he said smirking.

Yami cringed, now comprehending the situation. Ryou, though, did not.

"Where is he? Is he okay?"

"Oh, he's fine," Davey grinned.

"Where did you last see him?" Yami intervened.

"In there." Davey motioned to the house. "After he paid me."

Ryou's face paled.

"Paid you? You mean he had sex with _you_?"

"What's it matter to you who your brother sleeps with?" The prostitute snapped, offended.

"He's not my brother," Ryou whispered, "he's my boyfriend."

Davey blanched. "Shit, look I'm sorry about this, that you had to find it out this way. I guess this is why they tell us to keep everything that goes on here confidential." Davey sighed. "So you must be Ryou?"

Ryou blinked back his tears, and nodded.

"Well if it's any comfort, he screamed your name," Davey looked apologetically up at Ryou.

Ryou tried to smile but couldn't. He felt Yami's protective arm slip around him. "How long ago did he leave?" Yami asked.

"Um, ten minutes ago? He headed that way," Davey pointed in the direction they were heading. "Said something about urgent business."

"Thank you for your help," Ryou said stiffly.

Davey nodded, his eyes sympathetic. He knew what it felt like to thing you were the only one. He'd has his heart broken before—he'd walked in on his boyfriend screwing his older brother. His boyfriend had claimed that it was rape, but Davey didn't believe him. After that, he'd never let himself get attached to anyone he had sex with. He currently had a "boyfriend", a drug dealing gang member named Silas, but he was nothing more that something to come home to after a stressful night at work. They both worked only at night, so it was a convenient relationship. And Silas let him dominate, something most people didn't believe he was capable of.

He truly hoped that Ryou never became like him. That Bakura really did love him, and he would eventually be happy.

He watched Ryou's figure get smaller in the distance. It was six 'o'clock in the morning, so work was over. He went inside and grabbed his stuff and then slowly walked home.

There were three boys sitting on the porch; Silas, Crow, and one boy he didn't know with long blond hair in a ponytail and stunning green eyes.

"Look who it is!" Croq sneered his voice harsh and high pitched—the reason for his nickname. "Have a nice night sissyboy?"

Silas elbowed Crow in the ribs. Davey grinned. "Morning to you too," he said, the teasing was nothing new, and he knew Crow didn't mean it. At heart he was just as gay as the rest of them, he just had to put off a persona of toughness, being a gang leader and all.

"Hey babe," Silas said, pulling Davey towards him. "To tired for sex?" he asked.

"And if I was?" Davey retorted. Silas laughed, knowing he'd always get what he wanted.

"Anyone going to introduce me? Or will I have to do it myself," the unfamiliar boy interjected, startling Davey who had nearly forgotten his presence. The boy had a surprisingly deep voice, with a hint of a foreign accent, Russian maybe.

"Oh right," Crow said, "Davey, meet Viktor, our newest thief, Viktor meet Davey, our in home whore."

Davey pouted, "I'm not a whore, I'm an escort. And you've never slept with me anyway, so I'm not your whore."

"Geez, touchy. I'm just playing, Davey. You know you're my favorite little cross-dresser." Crow chuckled. "Come on inside, it's getting early.


	9. Chapter 9

Yugi lay shaking on the floor of the living room. His chest was still trickling blood from where Marik's nails had slashed him when he'd tried to get away. He was on the verge of losing consciousness. At least Yami was coming—if that hadn't been a hallucination. He hoped he would get there soon, before Marik woke up again. Yudi didn't think he could take another beating, any slight movement he made sent piercing pains through his entire body. He was lying on his side with his back up against the wall and Marik was sprawled on the couch, an empty beer can in his hand dangling over the side. The hand moved slightly and Yugi's heart started to race. Marik was waking up. Just as he was yawning and rubbing his eyes, the door burst open. Both boys turned, startled, to see who it was. Yami couldn't have gotten there that quickly.

But it wasn't Yami, it was Bakura. Marik jumped up.

"What you _you_ want?" he sneered.

"That," Bakura said, pointing at Yugi, his eyes fiery. Yugi went cold. Was Bakura just here to take him from the coals to the flame? He wasn't being saved after all, just changing captors.

"And why should I give it to you?" Marik asked.

"Because I want it. I need it." His voice was husky and almost desperate sounding.

"Pay me," Marik said simply.

"How much?" Bakura responded.

"Your millennium ring."

"Sorry, that's too much. I prefer to get what I want the fun way." Bakura's eyes narrowed as he advanced on Marik.

"And how's that?" Marik leered.

"Like this," Bakura's fist made contact with Marik's face at the same time as his knee rammed into his groin. Marik stumbled but stayed standing.

"Think that's gonna stop me?"

"No, but this will." Bakura aimed a kick at Marik's side, which the tomb-keeper blocked, laughing. Before he could get his hands back into position, Bakura landed a hook punch on his jaw, wrenching his head back, and followed it with a neat punch to the side of Marik's head. The evil tomb-keeper crashed to the ground, knocked senseless. Bakura kicked his stomach for good measure, and then turned to Yugi.

"You okay there?" He asked.

Yugi shook his head, terrified.

"Here, let me help you. What hurts?"

Yugi tried to find his voice. "E-everything," he stammered.

"Well, let's get you out of here, and then we can check out those wounds. Er, do you have clothes?"

Yugi blushed crimson, suddenly realizing that he was naked. Ne nodded to the couch, where his shirt lay shredded next to his pants and boxers.

He meekly allowed Bakura to dress him after trying himself and failing.

"Ba..kur…a?" Yugi's voice cracked. The tomb-robber looked up.

"Are you going to rape me?" Yugi asked.

"No." Bakura said.

"Then why did you save me?"

"Because Yami asked me to."

Yugi was silent.

"Yugi, he still loves you. He completely forgives you, and wants you back more than anything in the world. I don't know why though, you have been a pretty big ass."

"I know," Yugi winced as Bakura helped him up.

"Can you walk?" the taller boy asked.

"I-I think so."

"Why'd you go it?" Bakura asked.

Yugi couldn't hold it back any longer. His eyes filled with tears and he began sobbing uncontrollably.

Bakura didn't press the question.

Ryou continued walking mechanically towards Joey's place. He didn't fee upset, really, just disappointed. He's somehow hoped Bakura had changed. He thought maybe the tomb-robber loved him enough to keep his sexual desires under control. He knew he would never confront Bakura about it, and he knew Bakura would never say anything. It would be like the whole thing had never happened, except that there would be that invisible wall between them always. That fear, that distrust. Would it even be worth it?

'Ry?' Bakura's voice said in his head. He didn't answer. 'Ryou?' Bakura called again. Ryou stayed silent. 'Ry-kun, I know you can hear me, why aren't you answering?'

'Balura, you'll never hurt me, right?' Ryou finally responded.

'Of course not,' Bakura assured him.

'Bakura…' Ryou trailed off.

'Yes?'

'Nevermind.'

Bakura was silent. Then a few moments later he said, 'I found Yugi. Tell Yami he's okay and I'm bringing him home.'

Ryou unemotionally relayed the information to his companion. They turned to walk home and meet Bakura there. When they were almost there, Ryou told Yami to continue alone. He began walking in the other direction but Yami stopped him, "Ryou, it's not your fault Bakura did that, don't take it out on yourself." Then he let go of Ryou's arm and continued on.

 _I wasn't going to,_ Ryou thought.

He turned and ran the several blocks to the Kaiba mansion. By now it was mid-morning. He rang the doorbell, not sure of what he would say to explain his presence. The door opened to reveal Mokuba Kaiba.

"Hi Ryou, what are you doing here?"

"I was… Actually I don't really know."

Kaiba shouted from another room, "Who is it and what do they want?"

"It's Ryou," Mokuba called back, "And, um, he wants to—"

"Talk to Joey," Ryou supplied.

"Talk to Joey!" Mokuba yelled.

"Invite him in," Kaiba ordered.

Ryou allowed himself to be led into the house.


	10. Chapter 10

Crow stood at the head of the 'board table' that doubled as a game table. Seated around him were the members of the Roses.

"I've called this meeting to discuss our next hit," he used the word 'hit' although they never actually tried to kill people. If someone got stabbed in the process, so be it, but it wasn't the aim. "We're going to break into the Kaiba Mansion."

There were several gasps around the room. The Roses had never before attempted a job this big. They usually just looted houses while families were away or vandalized public areas to gain honor among the other gangs.

Crow described their plan of action and then dismissed the meeting. There were never questions, the gang knew not to doubt their leader. Only top ranking members could even talk about plans to Crow, and those included Silas and Davey. Davey approached Crow later that evening.

"Why the Kaibas?" he asked.

"Because they're the richest people in all of Japan," Crow responded, as if stating the obvious, which he was.

"I somehow doubt that's your reasoning."

Crow smiled. "You do know me well," he said, ruffling Davey's fluorescent hair.

"So tell me," Davey persisted.

"Alright. Seto Kaiba and I were at the same orphanage when I was twelve. We were pretty close friends."

Davey raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"No, not like that, Kaiba's as straight as an arrow—or at least he claims to be. But anyway, we had a promise that whoever got adopted first would come back and free the other. Of course Seto, with his charming personality and good looks got picked first," Crow sneered.

"Let me guess, he never came back."

"Of course not. Why would he want to ruin his perfect life by bringing me into it? He never even wrote a letter. So eventually when I was fifteen, I busted out. I left knowing that someday, I would be richer than Kaiba, and shove it in the assholes face."

"And burglarizing his house is going to do that?" Davey asked skeptically.

"No. That's the part I didn't say. Once we get in, and get the valuables, we're going to get every piece of dirt on Seto Kaiba that we possibly can. And then we're going to sell it to the media. His business will fall to pieces, and we'll make millions off of our information. Without Kaiba Corp., Seto Kaiba is nothing!" Crow ended vehemently.

"But what if you can't find anything?"

"Believe me, as secretive as that man is, he's got to have skeletons hidden somewhere."

* * *

A look flickered across Joey's face, but when Ryou looked again, it was gone.

"What happened?" The blond asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Ryou said quietly.

"Of course."

Ryou hugged his knees to his chest.

"I was happy for the first time in my entire life," he whispered.

"They why would you want to end it over something like this?" Joey asked gently.

Ryou looked up at him skeptically.

"How do you know what happened?"

"I guessed," Joey shrugged. "Really, Ry, is it worth it? You've been in love with him for years. You've stayed with him even when he abused you. Now that you got what you wanted, do you really want to throw it all away?"

Ryou bit his lip thinking. "I'm not sure," he said finally. "I could probably find someone else, but would it be the same?" he signed. "I guess I'm just sick of being hurt. I don't want to have to be on guard all the time, making sure I don't end up broken hearted. I want to be able to trust him. I want to believe tat he loves me only."

"You know he does."

"Do I?" Ryou smiled sadly.

Joey felt a pang in his chest. He still had lingering feelings for Ryou. He hated to see him this upset.

"Well, I don't know if this will help, but Seto and I are taking Mokuba to Kaibaland today. There's a festival tonight. Gwen Stefani is performing."

Ryou'e eyes lit up. "Really? She's my favorite singer!"

Joey grinned, "Then it's a date."

* * *

Crow snorted.

"Perfect," he said, watching the video play out before him. He'd hacked into Kaiba's security monitor system and was watching everything that went on in the mansion from his stolen laptop.

Davey glanced up from his gameboy, also stolen.

"Tonight?" he asked.

Kaiba and some kid named Joey are going to Kaiba's lame-ass amusement park with Kaiba's kid brother Mokuba. They're taking some day white haired boy too."

"Wait, white hair? Lemme see," Dave strode over to Crow and watched the replay.

"You know him?" the older boy asked.

"Yeah," Davey said quietly.

"Did you screw him?"

"No, his boyfriend."

"Whoa, that's awkward," Crow chortled.

"Don't I know it? I didn't know he was friends with Kaiba."

Crow snorted again. "Seto Kaiba doesn't have friends. He has pawns."

Davey smirked and went to call his boss, saying he wouldn't be in that night. He held the phone away from his ear as she screamed at him that they were expecting a shitload of customers that night, and how could she be expected to run a successful business if her best girlies decided to skip work whenever they damn well pleased. He told her he'd pay her back for whatever he caused her to lose, but she just screamed back that he may as well never show up again for all the good it did.

"You know you like me too much to fire me," Davey replied sweetly.

"You know I do, sugarplum, but that's still no excuse—" her voice was getting louder again

"Buh-bye~" Davey hung up the phone. He sat down on the couch and fell asleep .


	11. Chapter 11

"Hey Yami, " Yugi said nervously, when he and Bakura entered the room.

Yami met his eyes, but said nothing.

"I'm sorry," Yugi whispered, "I don't know why I ever wanted to do what I did. It hurt everybody—you, me, Joey, Malik—I was being a selfish little kid. The only good thing that came out of all of this is that I realized how much you are to me. How much it means to know someone loves me unconditionally, even though I don't deserve it. And… I understand if you don't want to love me anymore, but please, please… I love you more than you can imagine."

Yami nodded, tears in his eyes, "I love you too, Yugi," he choked out.

Bakura reentered the room—neither of them had noticed that he had left—and glared at Yami.

"Sorry to break up you lovey-dovey party, but where the hell is Ryou?"

"He… had something to take care of," Yami answered carefully.

"Right. So where'd he go?" Bakura demanded.

"Bakura," Yami paused, "He knows."

Bakura's face faltered for a moment, but reverted back to anger before anyone could be sure it even changed.

"Knows what?"

Yami raised his eyebrows, "Don't play dumb with me," he said coldly.

Bakura made a mocking face at Yami and stormed out.

"What was that about?" Yugi asked.

"Nothing," Yami said, in a voice that ended the subject immediately. He moved closer to Yugi.

"I missed you," he said, holding out his arms to hug the smaller boy.

Yugi suddenly tensed, backing away.

"What's wrong?" Yami asked, his face filled with worry.

"N-nothing," Yugi stammered.

Yami put his hand on Yugi's shaking shoulder. Yugi involuntarily shuddered, and threw it off. Yami looked crestfallen, and Yugi tried desperately to let him know it wasn't his fault, but he could't speak. Finally, frustrated, he started to sob. Feeling lightheaded, he backed away and sand down onto the couch.

"Yugi, this isn't good. You're in shock—we have to get you to a doctor…a counselor for situations like this,"

Yugi shook his head.

"Really, Yugi, it can't hurt just to go. And anyway, you're hurt. We have to do something about those cuts."

"B-but how wi-ll I exp-plain what hap-p-penned?"

"Don't worry about that, aibo. That's what doctors are there for."

"I'll be f-fine, Yami. Please," Yugi pleaded, but he continued to shake uncontrollably.

Yami smiled sadly, apologetically at his love, and then went into the kitchen and called for an ambulance.

* * *

Mokuba bounced gleefully up and down as he waited for Miles to arrive. Seto was taking them to Kaibaland for the Gwen Stefani concert with VIP backstage passes, of course, and Mokuba was nearly dying with anticipation.

He was also excited because tonight he was going to come out to his big brother. He hadn't really planned what he was going to say, he figured he and Miles could just tell the older Kaiba that they had feelings for each other and leave it at that.

Ryou was nearly as excited as Mokuba, but a little more subdued because of Bakura. He wondered where Bakura was now. He wondered if Yami and Yugi were happily reunited.

The doorbell to the mansion rang and Mokuba ran to answer it. Ryou heard two almost girlish shrieks and laughed out loud. He heard Joey and Kaiba's footsteps on the stairs and walked out to the foyer.

"Everyone ready?" Kaiba asked. Mokuba nodded, extremely excited. They went outside and slid into the limo that was waiting for them.

* * *

Davey watched the Kaiba party exit the house from across the street. He waited until the car had pulled away and turned the corner and then radioed to Crow that "the eagle is in flight". He stood up and crossed the street. His clothing was not the flamboyant outfit from the previous night but instead a modest black tee-shirt and faded jeans. His pink hair was tucked under a skull cap.

He reached the front gate, looking directly at the security video concealed in the trunk of a tall oak tree. He waved smugly, and then began to climb the gate. Before he was halfway over, he heard the familiar sound of an alarm system. When he made it to the top, he jumped down, catlike, to find himself staring into the dark sunglasses of a Kaiba Corp. security guard. Several others stood behind him.

"And what have we here?" the man asked menacingly.

"Uh, I-I… my friend dared me to try to get over the fence and get back without being caught, and I thought I could…"

The guard laughed. "Thought you could get through Mr. Kaiba's security system? Kids these days…" The man smirked as he patted down Davey, checking for weapons.

"So, can I go now?" Davey asked, "I didn't mean no harm," he said, using the double negative wisely.

"Sorry sonny, policy says I've got to detain you until Mr. Kaiba can speak to you personally. He's out right now, which means you might be here overnight. Anyone I need to notify about your location?"

Davey shook his head, "No one will miss me," he said, playing up his pity plea.

"I really wish I could let you go," The man said again.

Davey said nothing, but allowed himself to be lead into the house. As they entered the mansion, Davey let out a genuine gasp of awe and how… expensive everything looked. The guard turned around.

"I know how you feel, this place still amazes me, and I've been here for ten years."

Davey nodded, all the while deciding which items he would take first. The guard led him down a flight of stairs to what appeared to be the security center of the mansion. Davey knew that the real workings were another floor down, and this was just to throw off common burglars. True thieves would recognize the decoy almost immediately, but the everyday robber would be caught nearly as quickly when he was spotted on the cameras in the real guard center.

Davey entered a small room that looked somewhat like the waiting room of a hospital. The walls were stark white and lined with metal straight back chairs. A camera was attached to the ceiling in the far left corner, and unlike in the rest of the house there was not effort made to conceal it.

"My name's Montag, by the way. If you need anything you can push the red call button on the wall behind me. It calls my radio directly. Anything you need while I'm here?" He asked.

"Actually, I do have to, ah, use the facilities," Davey said.

"Could've told me that earlier," Montag chuckled, "All the bathrooms are above ground."

"Sorry sir," Davey apologized politely.

"Not a problem, sonny," He took Davey by the arm again and they retraced their steps back upstairs. Davey was led to the other side of the house from where he'd entered, to the housekeeping staff's quarters. Even for a maids' section everything was nicer than anything Davey had ever owned. Montag opened a door to reveal a toilet, sink and shower stall.

"Don't bother trying to get out the window, it locks from the inside and the outside." Davey nodded and shut the door behind him. Once the lock was secured, he went over to the window. He sprayed the opaque gas contained in his watch to reveal laser beams. Finding one three inches above the sill, he marked off with a pencil where it exited and reentered the wall. He then flipped the inside lock open. The double lock idea was a good one, except when the thief was already inside. He quickly radioed to Crow. "All set, first floor, bathroom three." Crow's voice came back, muffled, "I see you, we'll be inside in ten."

Davey flushed the toiled and washed his hands in the sink. Then he opened the door and turned off the light.

* * *

Silas and Crow shook water from their hair and removed their wet clothes, pulling dry ones from the waterproof bags on their backs. The one spot along the twelve foot fence that did not have an alarm system on it was the stream that ran across the entire property. The metal fence posts went clear to the bottom of the lake, but being underfed teenage boys, Crow and Silas easily slid through them, swimming onto the Kaiba property. Crow pulled his laptop from the bag to check the security cameras. No one was currently in the wing that Davey had just gone to the bathroom in, so the two made their way silently to the window. The flipped the lock and carefully slid the window open. Noting the trip wire, they agilely dropped into the room. Crow looked down at the computer and cursed. "Shit, there's a maid coming down the hallway. I think she might be…" he trailed off. "Hide!" he hissed. Silas opened the closet door to reveal an industrial sized hamper full of dirty towels. They leapt inside and covered themselves completely just as the door opened.

And suddenly they were moving. Silas shifted the towel covering his eyes slightly to see where they were. They were traveling down a long hallway, presumably to a laundry room.

Just as he was about to give up hope, Silas found a slit in the side of the hamper. Grabbing Crow's arm, or whatever body part that was, he looked out waiting to find a hallway to scramble into to get away. He saw the perfect opportunity ahead, and nudged Crow hard. When they were near to the entrance, Silas launched himself from the cart, somersaulting ninja-like into the shadows. He felt Crow thud into him, and they both breathed sighs of relief. Now, to get down to the basement to disable the alarms, so the others could enter. Crow opened the computer again, and replaced every screen in the surveillance center with blank footage, keeping the real feeds open so they could avoid the guards. Then they crept out into the hall and edged along the wall towards the stairs.


	12. Chapter 12

Kaibaland was a flurry of activity. Bright lights flashed at high frequencies, creating a strobe-like effect. Screams could be heard from all the rides, including the newest one, named "Dueling Dragons" which involved two racing coasters, one a white and blue dragon and the other a black and red. They were supposed to win equal amounts of races each, but Joey had nagged Kaiba to program it so red-eyes had the greater probability of being the victor. Of course Kaiba had acquiesced.

Mokuba dragged the group over to a kiosk selling harujuku brand clothing, all the while bouncing like a five year old who had eaten a few too many candy bars. While they were standing in line, Kaiba's cell rang. Joey glared at him reproachfully and he turned it off.

"You promised not to let business get in the way of Joey-Seto time," the blond reminded him.

"Sorry, I forgot it was on," He resisted the urge to kiss Joey in apology, as their relationship was not yet publicly known. He settled to squeezing Joey's hand. The blond grinned.

"Hey big brother, what do you think of this sweatshirt" Mokuba interrupted. Kaiba and Joey turned their attentions to the younger boy. Joey stifled a giggle at Mokuba's choice of a teal blue with rainbow dots and heart shaped zippers.

"Ah, um, you know that's a girl's sweat shirt, right?" The elder Kaiba asked, somewhat uncomfortably.

"I like it," Miles said, grinning. "It compliments your eyes."

This time Joey failed to contain his laughter.

"Righty then," Kaiba said, "If that's your choice then I'm completely fine with it." Everyone knew he wasn't referring to the hoodie.

"Thanks big brother!" Mokuba cried, hugging the tall brunet around the waist. He purchased the sweatshirt and then ran off, hand in hand with Miles, to get in line for the scrambler.

Sending the body guard Roland to stay with the younger Kaiba, the three older boys headed over to the Dueling Dragons. They slipped into the VIP entrance, allowing them to cut to the front of the line. Kaiba went to the front car of blue eyes, while Joey and Ryou boarded the other dragon, the blond vowing that he "would beat Kaiba—or else". Kaiba chuckled, doubting that the "or else" would consist of anything worse than being forced to cuddle all night, something he had no problem with whatsoever.

The cars rolled forward toward the starting gate. Joey flashed Kaiba a smile and a thumbs up. Kaiba grinned back.

The automated voice came through the speakers inside the car, "Good luck, duelists, prepare for battle in 5-4-3—" the countdown was misleading, at three the cars shot forward, powered by quickly changing electromagnets that pulled them forward by reversing their charge one after the other. Kaiba relished in the screams around him; again, his genius was successful.

The cars neared the blinking finish line, with red-eyes barely hanging on to the lead. Kaiba looked over to the other car where Joey was screaming along with the rest of the passengers, wildly cheering their dragon to go faster.

And of course red-eyes won, as Kaiba knew it would all along, having checked with the operators beforehand. As he exited the ride, Joey ran up to him. "Take that, moneybags," he said, jokingly, "I told you my red-eyes would beat you eventually."

"I never doubted you," Kaiba said with a smirk, receiving a playful clout to the head.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Kaiba mansion, Crow was having just as much fun. He and Silas reached the first level of the basement, which was clear of guards but for one, who was snoozing at his desk. They silently went to the wall where the fuse box that controlled the entire house was concealed. Slowly sliding the latch to the side, they opened the door and searched for the switch to turn off power to the alarm. The fuse wouldn't turn off the motion or heat detectors, merely the sound they made. Once they flipped it off, they continued to the lower level to cut the circuit on the detectors. Like most security systems, when the circuit was cut without the password being entered by the owner, the alarms would sound, alerting of an unauthorized breach. With power to the alarms turned off, no one would know that security was disabled, and the rest of the gang would be free to enter and destroy the Kaibas.

Before advancing any further on the lower level, they checked the laptop for guards. Silas nearly blew their cover when he saw Davey making monkey faces at the camera in his holding cell. Crow clamped a hand over his mouth, glaring. Silas mouthed an apology, and they exited from the shadows, creeping along the wall.

There was only one guard watching the camera feeds, in the room where the cut off for the security was. Crow pulled a rock from his pocket and threw it hard across the basement so that it knocked an urn off a table. The guard leapt up and ran in the direction of the noise, gun out. Silas ran forward also and quickly turned off the security system. By the time the perplexed guard made his way to their side of the room, they were up the stairs and back on the main floor of the house.

Crow called to the other gang members to enter the grounds, while he and Silas made their way to the second floor. The others would make off with the valuables while they searched for Kaiba's deepest darkest secrets.


	13. Chapter 13

Bakura leaned against the wall of the house. How had he let this happen? He and Ryou had finally been happy, and he'd let his selfishness get the best of him. Now Ryou would never trust him. He would never be able to hold the angelic creature in his arms again. Ryou would never fall asleep on his lap and have to be carried to bed. He would never again see those eyes light up at just the simple "I love you," or a quick kiss on the cheek. He hadn't realized just how much Ryou meant to him.

A siren blared not far away. Bakura looked up to see an ambulance turn the corner and come speeding in his direction. Not thinking twice, Bakura ran out into the street. He heard the brake squeal, but the vehicle's velocity was too great to stop that suddenly. He stared directly into the horrified eyes of the driver as four thousand pounds slammed into him.

* * *

Yami ran out of the house, his face ghostly pale. He'd seen everything, having heard the ambulance coming and been preparing to go out and meet the paramedics. The EMTs now leapt out of the van to try to save Bakura, the expressions on their faces very grave. There was no way the tomb robber's body could have survived that impact, although his soul was another matter. Yami knew that Bakura, in his time of emotional crisis, had forgotten that he was immortal, that the body he was inhabiting wasn't really his. It didn't really exist. His soul was still in the ring, which did and would always hang around Ryou's neck.

"Sir?" one of the EMTs called to Yami. "Do you know this man?"

Yami nodded, preparing for the worst.

"We're extremely sorry, he ran out in front of the van and we tried to stop, but it was too late. I'm terribly sorry, he's gone."

Yami nodded, the information did not come as a surprise. Bakura had intended to die, and that he had.

"You did call for assistance, correct?" the man asked, after carrying Bakura's limp body wrapped in a tarp to the van.

"That I did. I didn't know what to do, my friend was raped. I think he's in shock."

"Say no more, we understand," the second EMT, a woman, opened the door to the house. Minutes late, she came back out, leading Yugi by the arm. She beckoned to Yami to follow them and they got into the ambulance. The woman gave Yugi a pill of some sort of tranquilizer to calm his shaking, then she left him to sit by himself while she talked to Yami.

"What is your relation to Mr. Muoto?" she asked.

"We're friends. His Grandfather let me stay with them because my parents are having… marital issues."

"Just friends?" she asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Okay, boyfriends," Yami admitted. "How did you figure that out?"

"Oh, I've been at this job for quite some time, and before that I was a rape counselor. Your boyfriend was raped by a man, yet that didn't seem to be the issue, just that he was raped in general." She looked at Yami with a warm expression, "There's another question I have to ask… was he sexually active before the incident?"

Yami blushed, "Yes."

"I'd assumed so. When we get to the hospital you will have the option of going to the police and pressing charges if that's what you want. Do you have any idea who the attacker was?"

Yami nodded. "But I don't think it will help to arrest him."

"Is he family?"

"No… it's complicated. I can deal with him myself."

The woman's eyebrows shot up again, alarmed.

"No! No I'm not going to do anything illegal." He assured her.

"Okay," she said, clearly not convinced. "Well. Is there anything I can do regarding…" she waved in the direction of Bakura's corpse.

"You probably figured out it was suicide, right?" Yami said quietly.

"Yes, I could see it in his eyes. I guess you know his reasons?"

Yami nodded, sadly. Ryou would be devastated, believe himself the sole cause of Bakura's death. Yami knew that he'd have to be the one to tell Ryou, when he came back from wherever he'd gone to escape the pain Bakura caused him.

"Want to talk about it?" the woman asked, "I am a certified counselor."

Yami sighed.

"If I could explain everything in a way that wouldn't make me sound crazy, I would."

The woman nodded, "I'm very sorry for your loss," she said, not pressing the issue.

"Thank you," Yami replied as the ambulance turned into the hospital.

* * *

Ryou felt a wave of nausea come over him that had nothing to do with the roller coasters. He stopped walking and leaned on a railing to steady himself.

"You okay Ry?" Joey asked, concerned.

"Yes—I think so… I don't know what just happened… I feel like I was hit by a train or something." He tried to continue walking but his knees buckled and he ended up clinging to Joey for support.

"Woah there," Joey said, helping him to a picnic bench to sit down. "You are most definitely not alright."

Suddenly Ryou's small body shuddered as if an electric current had torn through him. His eyes were wide and frightened. He turned to Joey. "Bakura…" he whispered. "He's… gone. I felt his soul… vanish—"

"Bakura died?" Joey asked, startled.

"I don't think so," Ryou said, suddenly looking puzzled. "I don't think he can d-die…" Ryou trailed off.

"But something definitely happened to him?" Joey asked.

Ryou nodded. Then he looked up at Joey apologetically. "I'm sorry I ruined your night," he looked on the verge of tears.

"You didn't," Joey assured him.

"Yes I did. I always fuck things up. I… it's like I'm cursed or something. I screwed up with Bakura the first time, and then when I finally had what I wanted, I had to go throw it away over something stupid! And look what it led to. Bakura's dead because of me!"

Joey didn't know what to say, He laid his hand on Ryou's arm understandingly.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked.

"Well, maybe you can call Y-yami," Ryou hiccupped. I think that's where Ba-ku—" he couldn't finish the sentence, but Joey got the point. He went over to where Kaiba was standing a little ways away, having seen Ryou's need for privacy.

Ryou slumped forward onto the picnic table, head in his hands, sobbing. If he had been there, would he have been able to save Bakura from whatever had taken his life? If he hadn't run away from him, would Bakura still be around? He had no way of knowing, and he knew it was pointless even to wonder, but he still did. Had it been his fault?

Joey tapped Ryou lightly on the shoulder, trying not to startle him. The white haired boy turned around, and Joey handed him the phone.

"Ryou?" Yami's voice said.

"Y-yes?" Ryou responded, barely managing a whisper.

"Ryou… I'm so sorry," Yami began, "Bakura, well, he'd gone."

"I know," Ryou said, hollowly.

"Yes of course you would have felt it…" Yami trailed off, seemingly lost in thought.

Ryou cleared his throat, trying to dislodge the painful lump that had settled in it.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"He… killed himself. Oh Ryou, I'm so sorry, I should have seen it coming, I should have stopped it—"

Ryou cut him off, "No, it's my fault. He probably thought I hated him."

"Did you?" Yami asked quietly.

"I… I don't know. I know I don't anymore, now that I know how much he does care," Ryou laughed darkly at the irony.

"I'm at the hospital now, if you want to come… I had to bring Yugi in… I was trying to call you, but I didn't know where you'd gone. Bakura… well they need a family member to come and figure out what to do about… funeral arrangements and all that…" Yami trailed off again, not wanting to cause Ryou to cry again.

"I'll come," Ryou whispered, and he closed the phone.

He had been the cause of Bakura's death. He would have been able to prevent it if he'd been there. Because of him, Bakura would never be with him again, never love him, never hold him…

Sobs shook Ryou again, his slim body jerking painfully. Joey immediately rushed over to comfort him, but he pushed the blond aside. He didn't deserve to be comforted. He didn't deserve their kindness. He didn't deserve anything.

Joey backed away from Ryou, a little hurt but mostly worried. He could tell that Yami's news had not been good, and probably worse that Ryou had been expecting. He just hoped Ryou wouldn't do anything stupid, knowing it really wouldn't solve anyone's problems.

Ryou made no attempt to get up. His sobs eventually subsided, and his head slid off his arm to rest directly on the table. Joey knew from his rhythmic breathing that he was asleep.

"Seto," Joey said, "If you want to stay here with Mokuba, I'll take Ryou to the hospital."

"Mokuba's fine with Roland, I'll come with you."

Joey lifted Ryou from the bench, careful not to wake him. He slipped the boy's arms around his neck. He put one hand on Ryou's back, and, not quite sure what to do with the other, ended up awkwardly resting it on Ryou's hip. In his sleep, Ryou wrapped his legs around Joey's waist.

Joey determinedly kept his gaze away from the sleeping boy, and walked towards the entrance of the park.


	14. Chapter 14

Crow opened the door to what was presumably Seto's home office, seeing as it had the KaibaCorp logo displayed on the door. The room was disappointingly empty; there was no laptop on the desk, no papers strewn about. Kaiba obviously was very careful about his business strategy. After looking through the drawers unsuccessfully, they left the office and continued on to the bedroom. This room was far from orderly, which was shocking knowing Kaiba. Also interesting were the clothes that were tossed carelessly on the bed. Kaiba didn't seek like the ripped jeans type. The closet and all the drawers were separated into two halves, one neatly filled with suits and dress shirts and trench coats, the other a mess of tee-shirts and baggy pants.

Unless Kaiba had multiple personality disorder, there were definitely two people living in this room. And they were both guys. _Seto Kaiba was_ gay _? No, he_ _couldn't_ _be, there had to be another explanation._

He went to the bedside table, where there was a pad of paper designated for messages next to the phone. The top page was a name and a call back number, some company in Germany. He flipped to the second page. Scrawled in messy handwriting was:

"Went to store with Mokie, bbl."

The name was signed with a heart, "Joey." Crow raised an eyebrow. Davey had been talking about some kid Joey… he'd gone with Kaiba and his little brother to Kaibaland tonight.

His musings were interrupted by footsteps in the hallway outside. Crow and Silas dived under the bed. The door opened and a maid stuck her head in. The two boys held their breath, and eventually she shook her head and left. They remained under the bed while she continued down the hallway.

"Silas, I think Kaiba's gay."

Silas snorted, "What gave you that idea?"

"So you thought it too?"

"Well, yeah, as soon as I saw this," he showed Crow a picture frame he'd snatched off the window sill; it was a self taken photo of Kaiba kissing someone, a blond.

"Is that..?" Crow asked.

"You bet."

Crow didn't say anything.

"Um, you okay man?" Silas asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Crow snapped back.

"Whoa, chill, no need to be so touchy I was just asking."

"Sorry," Crow said quietly. "It's just…" he trailed off, not sure exactly what he was trying to say.

"Come on, let's go, we've seen enough," Crow said.

"Should we take this as blackmail?" Silas asked eagerly.

"No." Crow said shortly.

He sent out a radio signal to the rest of the gang to take what they had and leave. When they all met up outside the Kaiba mansion, Crow instructed everyone to head home, he had something to take care of. No one questioned him except Silas, who raised his eyebrows suspiciously.

When they were all out of sight, Crow went back into the house to wait for Kaiba to return.

* * *

Yami stared at the sliding glass doors for a half hour before Joey came in, Ryou in his arms clearly asleep.

He raised his hand, acknowledging them. Joey set Ryou down in the chair next to Yami's. The boy's head slumped onto Yami's shoulder.

"He's been out cold since about five minutes after you called," Joey said.

"I figured out how to bring Bakura back," Yami said in monotone.

"What?" Joey asked. "How?"

"It's complicated… since he was never really alive to start with, like me, he couldn't die. So his soul is still trapped in the ring." He pointed to the gold chain around Ryou's neck. "I'm pretty sure that I can bring it out again, but there is still the issue of a body. When Bakura, Marik and I entered this world, we used the bodies created by our hikaris. Bakura's body is so badly damaged that it is unusable, and Ryou is far too weak to create a new one."

"So, what're you going to do?" Joey asked.

"Spirits can inhabit any body they wish to, alive or dead." Yami replied.

"So you're saying that Bakura can come back in some dead guy's body? That's… plain weird."

"It'd be no one you knew, so you'd never even know he was dead. And it would stll be Bakura, just in a different form."

Joey shook his head in disbelief.

"I still don't see how that'll work. I mean, what about Ryou?"

"What do you mean?" Yami asked.

"Well," Joey lowered his voice, "Don't you think that'd be awkward for him? I mean, What if Yug' suddenly came back as someone else?"

"I'd still love him," Yami replied.

Joey had nothing to say. He scratched his head pensively.

"I'm here if you need any help."

"Thank you Joey," Yami said appreciatively.

Ryou yawned and blinked his eyes. He lifted his head slowly off of Yami's shoulder.

"Where's Bakura," he said, deadly.

"His body is being… cleaned up for burial," Yami informed him sadly, "But his soul remains in the ring."

Ryou glanced up, a flicker of light returning timidly to his eyes.

"He's not dead?"

"No more than he was before the accident."

"But I can't bring him back," Ryou's hope died. "I tried, when I felt it happen. I tried to talk to him, but the link wasn't there."

"The connection should still be present. Bakura might be very weak right now, he might not have the strength to communicate through the mindlink. Now I can't promise you it'll work, but I do have a plan.


	15. Chapter 15

Joey returned to the limo where Kaiba was waiting.

"How'd it go?" Kaiba asked.

"Not bad, I think Yami seemed to have things under control… he might be able to bring Bakura back."

"Good. Well, the concert will be almost over by the time we get back, and I don't even like Gwen Stefani, so why don't we just head back to the house? Continue Joey/Seto time, since we seem to keep getting interrupted."

"You don't have to work or anything?" Joey asked skeptically.

"No, promise. We can watch a movie, eat sundaes, whatever you want to do."

"Oh man, Seto, we haven't done this in forever."

"There has been a heck of a lot going on…"

Kaiba gave instructions to the driver and pulled Joey onto his lap. He put his arms around the blond boy, who turned his head and planted a kiss on Kaiba's cheek. They rode the rest of the way in silence, enjoying the feel of each other's bodies.

* * *

Crow saw the lights of the limousine turn the corner onto the street. He stopped pacing Seto's bedroom and sat down on the bed. He wasn't really sure what he was even going to say to Kaiba. He just wanted revenge for all the anguish he'd been cause by the billionaire CEO.

The front door opened. Crow heard voices, laughing. He grimaced. Why had Seto been the one to get lucky? They'd been in the exact same position, both penniless orphans, neither one born famous or rich. And then that man, Gozaboro Kaiba, had shown up. He never even glanced at Crow, just walked straight towards Seto, muttering about 'heirs' and 'figureheads'. Kaiba had been sitting at a table teaching his little brother to play chess. Crow was next to them on the floor. Gozaboro sat down next to Seto.

"I see you're a pretty decent chess player," he said.

"Well, I guess I'm not bad. My dad taught me… before he died," Seto had replied.

"I'm sorry," Gozaboro comforted him without any real feeling. Seto didn't need it anyway. "My name is Gozaboro Kaiba, I am the owner of Kaiba Corp."

"The gaming company?" Seto had perked up.

"You've heard of it?" Mr. Kaiba had asked, unnecessarily.

Seto nodded.

"Well, one day you could own it," the older man told Seto.

The young Seto's eyes widened. "You want to adopt me?" he asked.

"Yes! If that's what you wish."

Seto grinned, but then it faded suddenly.

"What about my brother?" he said, pointing to Mokuba.

Gozaboro frowned for a second. It wasn't his plan to have two children, just one, an heir. Two would be a nuisance. But then he saw the look on Seto's face and he knew he would never get one without the other.

"Alright then, it's settled," Gozaboro said, cheerily.

"Yay big brother! We're going to have a home and a family again!" Mokuba cheered.

Crow, sick of their happiness, got up and walked away. At least Seto would come back for him; they'd made a promise, pinky sweared and sealed with blood. They'd pricked their hands and held them together vowing that 'whoever got out first would come back as soon as they could to free the other' and that they'd be 'best friends forever'.

But money had turned Kaiba into an asshole, and Crow had never heard from him again, never saw his face until he appeared on the news right after Gozaboro's death telling the world how he was planning to take over Kaiba Corp.

That had been three years ago. The net day, Crow had run away from the orphanage, vowing that one day he would make Kaiba pay for what he had done, or rather, hadn't done.

One set of footsteps thundered up the stairs. Crow tensed, awaiting Kaiba's arrival. The door clicked open and a shaggy blond head poked through.

Joey stepped into the room and screamed when he saw the figure sitting on the bed.

"Who the fuck are you, and how the hell did you get in here?" he demanded, reaching for the nearest heavy object to defend himself with; he picked up a textbook.

"Hello, Joey, my name is Crow, pleasure to meet you."

"How'd you know my name?" Joey asked warily.

"Oh, the same way that I know you're Seto Kaiba's little boy toy." Crow chuckled.

"I am not his boy toy." Joey glared at him.

"Oh really? Then you'll have no problem when I see this to the media?" he held up the photograph.

"Get the hell out of my room, Thomas," Kaiba appeared behind Joey.

"You know him?" Joey asked, surprised.

"Used to," Kaiba corrected. "He is no longer a part of my life."

Crow sneered. "I don't need you anyway, Kaiba," he spat. "I have all I ever wanted, and I got it without any help from you."

"Good, then you won't need me to help you to the door," Kaiba smirked.

"Oh I'm not finished with you yet, rich boy."

"Seto, who is he?" Joey asked again.

"No one important," Kaiba said to him. Then the brunet turned back to the stranger. "What do you want?" he asked, annoyed, "Why are you here?"

"I don't appreciate it when people lie to me."

"What are you talking about?" Kaiba sneered.

"Remember this?" Crow held up his hand, with a crescent shaped scar on the palm.

Kaiba involuntarily clenched his own fist. "I don't care to dwell on my past," Kaiba said coldly.

Joey excused himself quietly and headed downstairs.

Crow laughed harshly.

"You obviously forgot it pretty quickly."

"Well, you got out without my help, didn't you? I really don't see what all the fuss is about."

"I waited for three years for you Seto," Crow whispered, his tough demeanor cracking, "Didn't any of it mean anything to you?"

"I had everything I ever wanted," Kaiba said, not really answering the question.

"And you didn't want me to ruin that," Crow laughed again, "I get it. I would have been a hindrance in your plan to be the biggest bastard in Japan, is that it?"

"You always were a clever one, weren't you Tom?" Kaiba said sarcastically.

"Drop the act, Kaiba," Crow snarled, his temper rising.

"What do you want from me?" Kaiba sighed, tiredly. This conversation seemed to be going nowhere.

Crow was silent. Then he sighed and sat down on the bed again.

"Well I came here wanting revenge for what you did to me. But now—" he trailed off, then looked up at Kaiba sadly. "I just want my friend back."

Kaiba swallowed the lump in his throat. "I really did want to come back for you," he whispered, his voice cracking. "But Gozaboro—he told me that if I ever wanted to be successful, I would forget my past, forget the people I loved. He told me there were no such things as friends, only people who wanted to take advantage of you." Kaiba sighed, "I thought I wanted to be like him, and when he died, I ran his company as he would have wanted me too. I was an asshole, I know, but I've tried to change."

"Then why didn't you come back for me?"

Kaiba turned away shamefully. "The truth is… the truth is I for—I didn't remember."

"You forgot about me. Gozaboro did his job. He made you a cold-hearted jerk just like he was."

"I'm sorry Thomas," Kaiba said softly.

"No one calls me Tom anymore," the other boy replied. "It's Crow now."

Kaiba sat down on the bed next to Crow. "You've changed a lot," he said.

Crow nodded. "We all have," he agreed, staring at his feet. "Um, Seto, there's something I've got to apologize for too."

Kaiba frowned. "What did you do to me?" he asked.

"Well, actually, me and the rest of my gang broke into your house and looted it earlier today," he admitted.

Kaiba chuckled. "Wow, I guess I do have too much stuff," he sighed, "I didn't even notice." He shook his head, "How'd you get past security?"

Crwo smirked, "We sent a decoy, and then swam in."

"But how did you get into the building?"

"First floor bathroom window."

"Well, congratulations, you're the first person to break into my house."

Crow grinned. "On that topic, my decoy is currently being held in your basement. Your guard is an extremely gullible man.

Kaiba laughed, and Crow joined him. Their eyes met and they smiled at each other.


	16. Chapter 16

Ryou stared rather blankly at Yami.

"You mean 'Kura has to come back as some old dead guy?" he asked.

"He doesn't have to be old," Yami said.

"Oh what, are we going to walk into a morgue and be like 'I want that one'?" Ryou snorted.

"Actually…"

"Come on, Yami!" Ryou snapped, annoyed. "This isn't going to work."

"Why not?" Yami asked, confused.

"Because it just isn't!" Ryou exclaimed in anger.

Ryou turned away from the pharaoh and picked up a newspaper. He turned to the local news section, more reports of gang violence. What was the death toll now? Twenty seven in the last month? Ryou read the articles almost sadistically, the pain of others somehow making him feel a little better, even though he nearly cried at some of them.

Now, he couldn't help staring at some of the dead people's faces, thinking about what it'd be like if Bakura came back as one of them. He shut the paper violently, his eyes brimming. Bakura's name would be there tomorrow, next to those highly attractive young people. Wait, no, what the hell was he thinking? He didn't want Bakura to be different, he loved him the way he was!

But a little nagging voice in his head reminded him that he wouldn't have Bakura at all if he didn't do this. He opened the news again, his eyes landing on a picture of a skinny pale skinned boy with dark hair covering half his face. His eyes were grey and troubled.

"Hey, Yami?" he called quietly.

The pharaoh glanced over at him.

"You think—I mean can we—um…"

"Sure Ryou, whomever you choose."

Ryou looked down again, torn. But then a smile began to form on his face. What would Bakura think when he came back as—he glanced down at the name—James Prince?

At that moment, a nurse stepped out into the waiting room to tell Yami that he could see Yugi.

"As soon as I come back we can take care of Bakura," he assured Ryou, who nodded rather weakly, still not exactly sure about the plan.

* * *

Yami sat down tentatively on the seat next to Yugi's bed. There was an enormous bandage over his chest and an IV in his arm, since he'd lost so much blood. He looked away when Yami came in.

"How can you look at me?" Yugi asked almost inaudibly.

"Because I love you, Yugi," Yami said firmly. Yugi snorted.

"Yeah right," he muttered.

"Why would I say it if I didn't mean it?"Yami asked, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Oh, I don't know, because you think I'm a worthless piece of shit and you want to make me feel even worse?" Yugi snapped.

"You know that's not true."

"Oh yes it is. I ama worthless piece of hit." Yugi shot back.

"You know what Yugi? There's no point in talking to you like this. You're not worthless, you're not a bad person, and I forgive you for everything that happened. When you accept that, I'll be back." He got up and headed for the door.

"Wait, Yami," Yugi whispered.

Yami stopped but didn't turn.

"I know you care," Yugi continued, "But you shouldn't I don't deserve it. I don't deserve you."

Yami didn't respond, but continued walking towards the door.

"See?" Yugi called, "I knew you didn't really love me!"

Yami turned.

"That is the farthest thing from the truth," he said, and left.

* * *

"You ready, Ryou?" Yami asked.

"No, but I'm coming."

They stood up and left the hospital.

"Where are we going anyway?" Ryou asked.

"The funeral home."

"So what, are we just going to walk in there and steal a body?"

"No, we steal it after the viewing, and they bury an empty coding."

Ryou cringed.

"I feel like there's something morally wrong with this."

"Do you want Bakura back or not?"

"Of course," Ryou mumbled.

"Then you have to trust me." Yami said with finality. Ryou nodded.


	17. Chapter 17

Crow leaned back on the bed, propping up his head with his hands.

"So," he said, "You're gay."

Kaiba nodded. Crow looked at him sharply.

"Is this Joey kid the first guy you've ever liked?"

"Yes, why?"

"Nothing," Crow responded, rather dully.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before both speaking at the same time.

"Did you—" they both began.

"You first," Crow said.

Kaiba was silent for a moment, composing his thoughts. Did he want to know the answer to his question?

Crow cleared his throat, jerking Kaiba out of his reverie.

"Didyoulikeme?" Kaiba asked in a rush. Crow stared at him.

"What?" he asked, having not understood a word Kaiba had said. Kaiba tried again.

"Did you… like me?" he asked, blushing.

Crow smiled sadly. "Yes. Of course I did Seto, but I knew that you would never like me back."

Kaiba looked down at the midnight blue bedspread. Thoughts came unbidden into his mind, but he shook them away angrily. No, he couldn't do that to Joey. He would never forgive himself.

But he did want to be friends with Crow, really. Could they be friends without being… lovers?

It wouldn't hurt to try.

"Tom—Crow… I do like you back—"

"—seriously?" Crow interjected.

"—but I can't be with you." Kaiba finished, ignoring him.

"Why?" Crow asked, crestfallen.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at the other boy.

"How do you expect me to explain it to Joey?"

"Were you his first boyfriend?" Crow asked.

"No, but what's that got to do with—"

"Then he'll be fine."

And with that he sat up and wrapped his pale arms around Kaiba's neck, staring steamily into his ice blue eyes. Then he kissed him.

Kaiba didn't protest. Crow deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into Kaiba's mouth. Kaiba involuntarily brought his hands up to grip Crow's shoulders and began kissing back.

Joey's footsteps sounded in the hallway but neither of the boys heard them.

"It got really quiet up here, is everything okay?" Joey asked as he opened the door. Kaiba pulled away from Crow.

"Oh sorry, was I interrupting something?" Joey spat as he slammed the door.

"Wait Joey!" Kaiba called after him. "It's not like that! He kissed me!"

"That's not what I saw!" Joey shouted back as he stormed down the stairs.

Kaiba glared at Crow.

"Now see what you've done!" he moaned.

"He'll be fine," Crow assured Kaiba. "He's probably going to find someone else right now. Is his ex still single?" Crow asked.

"I think so but—"

"Then you have nothing to worry about." Crow pushed Kaiba's hair away from his eyes. "Absolutely nothing." He kissed Kaiba again.

* * *

Joey stormed out of Kaiba's mansion. This was just wonderful. Effing beautiful. He _knew_ this would happen. The one time in his life he'd actually cared about his boyfriend, he had to get hurt.

Strangely, it didn't hurt as much as he'd expected. He sat down on the curb of thestreet.

"Joey?" A voice called from further down the street.

Joey looked up to see the last person he would have expected.

"What are you doing here," he demanded, standing up.

"I was just walking around, enjoying freedom."

"How did you get out?" Joey asked, backing away.

"Aw come on Jo' I'm not going to hurt you."

"And why the hell should I believe you, Malik?"

"Because I missed you, Joey." Malik said, now standing right next to him.

"Is that a good thing?" Joey asked, nervously.

"Well I'm not planning to rape you if that's what you mean."

"Good to know," Joey said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Malik ignored his comment.

"So what are you going out here?"

"None of your business," Joey snapped.

"Aw, did you have a fight with loverboy?"

"I _said_ it's none of your business!" Joey repeated angrily.

"What did Kaiba-poo do, get tired of your clinginess?"

"Shut UP! I am no clingy!" Joey shouted.

"Jeez man, chill," Malik chuckled, taking a step back. "So it is Kaiba. What happened?"

"I told you, it doesn't matter. It's over."

Malik's eyes lit up.

"And no, you don't have a chance with him. He met up with one of his old friends and I walked in on them… well you get the point."

"I'm sorry Jo'," Malik said, and Joey could tell he was almost sincere. _Almost_.

"Yeah, well, I don't really care." Joey leaned backwards against a streetlight.

"You want to hook up?" Malik asked suddenly, an excited gleam in his eyes.

"Sure, what the hell," Joey sighed unemotionally. Malik grinned and advanced on Joey, wrapping his arms around the blond boy's waist and kissing him on the lips, starting out almost timidly but eventually becoming more passionate until it felt just like old times.

"I really did miss you, Wheeler," Malik said between kisses.

"I missed you too Malik," Joey moaned as the Egyptian dragged him closer, crushing their bodies together.

"I've always wanted to screw someone in the bushed," Malik chuckled hoarsely, as he pulled Joey down onto the ground between two rhododendrons. Joey responded by sliding his hand into Malik's pants. As Joey slid off the other boy's clothes, he began to laugh. He laughed at how stupid he'd been to like Kaiba. He laughed at how pathetic Kaiba really was. He laughed at Yami for his inability to keep the Ishtar's in the shadow realm. He laughed at the fact that he was laughing while having sex.

And damn it felt good.


	18. Chapter 18

The funeral home was nearly empty. There were two women hovering near the casket sobbing and three more people standing awkwardly behind them. Ryou guessed one of the women to be the dead boy's mother, and the other either the grandmother or another relative.

One of the men turned around when Yami and Ryou entered and looked them over, turning away without saying anything.

The group stood silently for what seemed like hours before saying their last goodbyes and turning solemnly towards the door and exiting. Yami and Ryou stayed behind as the funeral director came into the room to close the casket and take it to the cemetery.

The man looked very confused when he saw them. Yami placed his hands on the millennium puzzle and murmured a few words in Egyptian. The man's eyes slid out of focus for a moment. And then he stood still, as if frozen in time. Yami moved forward to the coffin. The boy laying there looked younger than he had in the picture. Around sixteen maybe, a year younger than Ryou. He nearly laughed out loud. Bakura would kill him for this. But he began chanting in Egyptian anyway, drawing Bakura's spirit from the ring, which was shining gold around Ryou's neck. After a minute or so, the ring ceased its glowing and Ryou's eyes widened as James Prince's body suddenly shone as if surrounded by a halo. Yami's voice rose in volume, his eyes closed.

Abruptly he stopped speaking and the glow went away.

The boy's body shuddered once and then went back to being as still as it was. Except that when Ryou looked closer, he could see that his chest was now rising and falling with the steady breathing of one who was asleep.

"Bakura?" he called tentatively.

The boy's eyelids fluttered, but he remained asleep. Ryou took a few steps closer.

" 'Kura? Is that you?"

'Ryou?' Bakura's voice said, but he was speaking through the mindlink, not from the body lying in the coffin.

'Oh Bakura, you're okay!' Ryou exclaimed happily through the link.

'Where the hell am I? Everything's dark.' Bakura responded, confused.

'Open your eyes, dummy,' Ryou laughed.

The boy stirred again, and then opened his eyes. Seeing Ryou, he sat up quickly.

"Ryou?" Bakura said softly, sounding strange coming from the black haired boy's body.

Ryou ran forward, throwing his arms aroud the other boy.

"Oh Bakura, I'm so sorry for everything! I'm sorry I ever doubted your love for me. I—"

Bakura cut him off.

"Why the hell am I sitting in a coffin?" He asked. Ryou laughed nervously. Bakura obviously hadn't yet realized he was in a different body.

"Um, well, see, the only way we could bring you back was to, um, give you someone else's body… someone dead… so, you, uh, look a little different," Ryou stammered. He pointed to the mirror on the other side of the room. Bakura turned his gaze in that direction, and almost immediately burst out laughing.

"Are you serious Ryou?" He asked, swinging his legs over the side of the mahogany box he'd been sitting in. He dropped to the ground. He was only about two or three inches taller than Ryou now, and nearly as skinny.

Ryou laughed tentatively. But then any fear he had was destroyed as Bakura hugged Ryou tightly to his chest and kissed him, his tears falling on to Ryou's face, mixing with Ryou's own. They were tears of jo which Ryou hadn't cried in ages, maybe his entire life.

"I'll never leave you again, Ryou," Bakura promised in a whisper.

"I know that," Ryou replied, emotionally. They tightened their hold on each other, clinging on for dear life it would seem.

Yami smiled at the two, hoping that eventually he and Yugi would be like that—be happy again.

But for right now, he was just glad for Ryou and Bakura. Glad that he could have helped them.


End file.
